It isn't quite at Manny Machado or Jesse Winker levels but Willson Contreras continues to climb the ladder of most hated opposing players for Milwaukee Brewers fans.
The St. Louis Cardinals' first baseman added another chapter to his lore Saturday when he found himself embroiled in yet another controversy during the Brewers' 8-5 loss to their division rivals.
It started in the third inning when Contreras appeared to step backward in an effort to block Caleb Durbin, who was legging out a ground ball to third base and went to the ground after colliding with Contreras.
That drew a vocal response from Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins in Milwaukee's dugout, leading to a fairly heated exchange between the two.
Things escalated an inning later when Hoskins was plunked in the forearm by a 0-1 offering from Andre Pallante and Brewers left-handed Jose Quintana responded in the fifth by drilling Quintana, leading home plate umpire Vic Carapazza to issue warnings to both dugouts.
That seemed to put an end to the drama but Contreras wasn't done: after homering off Rob Zastryzny in the ninth, Contreras glared back with more words for Hoskins as he rounded first base then had even more to say after the game.
"One of their players, he liked to talk from far away, but then when he got in my face, didn't say shit," he told St. Louis reporters. "I was looking for more than that. He seems to be tougher. He's a f*****g p***y. I'm not gonna name no names. He knows who he is."
Asked directly about his interaction with Hoskins, Contreras said "(Hoskins) didn't say nothing to me. I was expecting for him to say something, but he was looking away already. Look at my face. Just say it to my face, whatever you say from the dugout. And he was looking away... ..just get off the base.
"I was like man, push me. He didn't so it was good."
He also denied intentionally getting in Durbin's way.
"I'm not here to hurt anybody," Contreras said. "If I want to hurt the guy, I'll do worse than that, believe me."
Durbin, for his part, took a diplomatic approach and gave Contreras the benefit of the doubt.
"I guess on throws up the line (that happens). I think it’s a judgment call whether it really took him up the line."
Hoskins had little to say afterward, either, including when asked about his conversation with Contreras upon reaching after being hit by Pallante's pitch.
“We were just talking about playing first base," he said.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy didn't think that either Pallante nor Quintana were trying to hit anyone intentionally and chalked up the tension to the intensity of the teams' long rivalry.
"It's Cardinals-Brewers so there's always going to be high emotion," Murphy said. "Players handle that stuff. That's the way it goes. We're not looking to fight. That's not our thing.
"But we're not going to be pushed around, either."
About the Game, Itself...
Aside from the dramatics, Saturday was an otherwise forgettable day for Quintana who allowed a season-high seven runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out four over 4 1/3 innings of work.
Only five of those runs, though, were earned thanks to a throwing error by Durbin that prolonged what turned out to be a three-run fourth inning.
"I thought turned it into a long hop because I read it as it was kind of going to be a tweener," Durbin said. "So either go do-or-die and come in, and obviously I took the safe route getting the long out and that kind of eliminates the play going to third, stepping on it and going to first. So it just got a little away from me. Unfortunate, but part of the game."
Down, 7-1, at one point, the Brewers clawed their way back with a three-run fifth inning and had multiple opportunities over the next few innings only to come up empty including the eighth when Milwaukee loaded the bases with one out against Phil Maton who escaped by striking out Sal Frelick and Jackson Chourio.
"We had plenty of chances to win that game," Hoskins said.
After Willson Contreras' home run in the ninth, his brother William responded with a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the inning, becoming the first siblings to homer for opposing teams in the same inning during the post-expansion (1961) era.
Around the Horn
The Brewers are now 0-4 this season in games that could have moved them six games over .500. ... OF Sal Frelick had two hits Saturday, giving him seven since moving to the top of Milwaukee's batting order in the series opener on Thursday. Over his last 28 games, Frelick is slashing .351/.394/.454. ... C William Contreras' ninth-inning home run was his sixth of the year and first since May 23 at Pittsburgh.
Trainer's Room
Outfielders Blake Perkins (fractured shin) and Garrett Mitchell (left oblique) began minor-league rehab assignments Saturday with the Brewers' Arizona Complex League affiliate and are expected to move up to Triple-A Nashville next weekend.
Attendance: 39,017 (1,045,879)
On Deck
Right-hander Quinn Priester (4-2, 3.65 ERA) gets the start Sunday afternoon when the Brewers wrap up their four-game series against the Cardinals and right-hander Miles Mikolas (4-3, 4.48 ERA).
Priester's lone career appearance against the Cardinals came earlier this season when he took no decision after giving up five runs on eight hits and three walks over five innings in an 8-5 loss at Busch Stadium.
Mikolas is 10-6 with a 3.87 ERA in 19 career outings (18 starts) against the Brewers and 8-2 with a 3.08 ERA in 11 appearances (10 starts) in Milwaukee.